'Annabelle' Hydrangea

Sunday, February 28, 2010

I don't remember when I bought my farm. It was sometime last year at the end of summer. You would think that one would remember a momentous occasion as buying a farm. I don't, I only know that I have $7 in Farmville cash, 507,467 coins, 113989 experience points, and a new Horse Stable virtually built with the help of my numerous friendly neighbors. Farmville can be very addicting. Dr. Phil had a mother on his show whose life and the lives of her family revolved around the harvesting of her crops. I warn anyone who wants to start; not to!

The point of Farmville is to maintain a farm. There are animals to be taken care of, crops to be bought, planted, fertilized by your friends, and trees to be planted and harvested. As your experience increases the type of seed you can buy and plant increases also. There are many ways to get a head faster. You can block in your avatar so that you can harvest faster, have more neighbors to help farm your crops, and help those neighbors with barn building and fertilizing their crops.I have a large farm with a couple of houses, a general store with a fresh produce stand to sell my crops, a greenhouse, several fruit trees, lots of animals, three dairy farms, a couple of duck ponds. I think you get the picture. The best thing about Farmville is that I get to grow vegetables, fruits, flowers, and grains all year long no matter the season. Farmville is also addictive because it's instant gratification; just virtually. I remember telling the horticulture crew I managed at a golf course, it's time to TAFPAG! Till, Amend, Fertilize, Plant, And Go. That's was my mantra to them every time before changing a planting. Farmville is just as simple as that, and just as gratifying. When it's snowing outside, I've got tomatoes growing and due to be harvested in about eight hours from planting. Now if only those great folks at Zynga can get me some edible tomatoes to grow that quickly...

We've come a long way with computer graphics and games since the days of Pong and Pac-Man! This morning, I noticed an advertisement for a PC Time Management game called "Fiona Finch and the Finest Flowers" on my screen. According to the game description, you can help Fiona plant seeds and bulbs, craft bouquets, use fruit dryers, jam boilers and perfume makers, crossbreed flowers and win the town gardening competition.

I have never played this game, but it looks really interesting. Plus, it has received positive reviews on the Internet. I imagine gardeners like me are the target audience...

I'd much rather garden outside, but I may need to settle for virtual gardening today since it is snowing (AGAIN!) in Virginia.

For more details and ordering information about this PC game download, check out game sites like:

This particular website features a short video about "Fiona Finch and the Finest Flowers." A few other PC games that may appeal to green thumbs include: Alice Greenfingers, Plant Tycoon, Magic Seeds, Garden Dreams, Gardenscapes, Ranch Rush, Kelly Green Garden Queen, Enchanted Gardens, and many more. FarmVille is a similar agriculturally-themed game played on Facebook.

Another Game Screen from PC Time Management Game "Fiona Finch and the Finest Flowers."